Symptomatic Retrosternal Dislocation Of The Clavicle

The authors report a case of a 24-year-old man who injured his right shoulder playing football. After reviewing the plain x-rays of his shoulder, the patient was sent home after explaining that he had a minor sprain of the sternoclavicular joint. The patient returned 72 hours later with pain, severe swelling on the sternoclavicular region, dilated veins on the right upper limb, dysphagia and had difficulty in breathing. A computerized tomogram revealed complete posterior dislocation of the sternoclavicular joint with compression of the right innominate vein. The patient was taken to the theatre and had reduction of the sternoclavicular joint .All the symptoms subsided very shortly after the reduction procedure. The authors discuss the case and the management of the injury.